Gurley Leep dealerships carry off own major moves

Napleton purchase prompts massive overnight shuffle.

Napleton purchase prompts massive overnight shuffle.

June 17, 2006|CHRISTINA HILDRETH Tribune Staff Writer

MISHAWAKA -- In an operation that lasted into the wee hours of Friday morning, Gurley Leep Automotive Family purchased, emptied and moved into the former Ed Napleton dealership at 120 W. McKinley Avenue. The move set up an overnight shuffle of six dealerships and the closing of Gurley Leep's dealership along Indiana 933 at the north end of St. Joseph County. Gurley Leep employees relocated more than 400 cars, dozens of computers and hundreds of thousands of car parts in six hours Thursday evening. Dealerships for the Mishawaka-based group are now organized by manufacturer. Brands like Chrysler and Dodge, which had been selling at different locations, for example, are now sold at the same location. Mike Leep Jr., owner and vice president of the company his father founded in 1975, did not disclose the dollar amount for the Napleton purchase, but said it was "seven figures." Ed Napleton owner of the Oakland Terrace, Ill.-based auto group that bears his name, and Leep's father, who have been good friends since they met on a business trip to Barcelona, Spain, more than a decade ago, started discussing the sale during a visit at Christmas. To the two car dealers, the sale just made sense. "All the franchises that we had there fit into Mr. Leep's hand better than mine," said Napleton, referring to Mike Leep Sr. Napleton Automotive Group, which has dealerships in Chicago, St. Louis and Orlando, recently expanded into West Palm Beach, Fla. Gurley Leep's shuffle Thursday night was a huge operation, involving 12 of the group's 24 brands. Leep said the overnight scramble was to avoid losing daytime business. "The margins are very slim in this business," he said. "To lose a day of business is a big deal. Some of those involved with the move at the ground level were amazed they could pull it off in such little time. "It was pretty crazy," said Rick Zellers, director of fixed operations for Gurley Leep. Zellers and more than 20 other employees worked from 7 p.m. Thursday to almost 1 a.m. Friday morning to switch the old Napleton store to the new Gurley Leep Imports, which sells Kia, Subaru, Suzuki and Mitsubishi products. Fueled by a quick bite of pizza, Zellers and other workers cleared the old Napleton parts department -- which had more than 35,000 car parts, in just over an hour. Despite the enormity of the move, all dealerships involved in the operation were open for business Friday morning at 9 a.m. "I wouldn't have thought in a million years that we could pull it off that fast," Zellers said. Although it required the labor of dozens of employees, the reorganization is worth the effort, said Leep, adding that the moves will help streamline customers' car-shopping. "Dodge and Chrysler brands are designed to work together and they don't overlap," he said. Ed Napleton is out of the local market, but he still wishes his old store to have success on account of his friendship with the elder Leep. "I couldn't be happier selling it to anyone else," Napleton said. "I wish him nothing but continued success." Staff writer Christina Hildreth: childreth @sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6271